Film on girl lying about rape alarms legal groups, Unicef

Advocacy groups for the protection of women and children have called on a production studio to take down from YouTube a short film showing a child fabricating a rape charge, saying such a depiction could have dire repercussions on the cases of real-life victims.

In a statement, petitioners who included a senator, a justice department official, and representatives from the legal community, the academe and the United Nations program for children, called on VinCentiments to be more responsible in dealing with sensitive matters involving minors.

“The video blatantly perpetuates the myth that rape is easily fabricated,” they said, referring to the 2-minute film titled “Virgin Marie,” which was uploaded on August 15 on the studio’s YouTube channel.

“An accusation of rape is not easy to make. It takes tremendous courage for victims to collect their wounded dignity and report the incident to authorities,” they stressed.

The film showed the titular character Marie rehearsing her court testimony on how she was supposedly raped by her own father.

In a later scene, however, the girl got a scolding from an adult woman for not strictly following the script they had agreed upon to win a conviction.

The final scene closed with the text: “Nagsisinungaling ang bata.” (Children tell lies.)

The petitioners included Senator Risa Hontiveros, Assistant Justice Secretary Cheryl Daytec-Yañgot, and representatives of Unicef Philippines, Women’s Legal and Human Rights Bureau, Ateneo Human Rights Center, and Save the Children Philippines.

In their view, the film “disregards the vast of majority of victims of sexual abuse who tell the truth and face a great ordeal in seeking justice.”

“It also cripples the efforts of groups encouraging women and girls to report the crime and to be actively involved in prosecuting cases of sexual violence,” they said.

They warned it could embolden perpetrators to find ways of undermining the credibility of their victims’ statements.

Netizens have since joined the film’s detractors in calling out the studio over the issue.

But in a statement posted by the producers on Facebook on the day the video was uploaded, the film’s writer and director, Darryl Yap, said they expected to draw severe criticism from government agencies and “some conservatives,” but he maintained that his work was based on reality and a “reflection of society.”